The Team

"The best stories of adventures often involve things going epically wrong."

What would the back cover of your autobiography say?

"She didn’t like to write about herself in the first person, and it shows."

What does "adventure" mean to you?

The best stories of adventures often involve things going epically wrong. I’m not afraid to suffer, but it’s easy to mistake a great adventure for a good yarn. After all, anyone can listen to a story, but you have to get off your butt to have an experience. For me, an adventure doesn’t require soul-crushing moments of misery or near frostbite conditions. It can be subtle things, too -- a red-tailed hawk flies next to you, you see something no one else saw that day, and the world feels a little more vivid.

What about the team are you most excited about?

Unless you count physics league in high school, I’ve never been on a team of any kind. Even then, I sat in a quiet room solving problem sets while less nerdy nerds built popsicle stick bridges together. So the thing that most excites me about being on a team is just being on a team! I’m excited to hang out and strive to keep up with women whose idea of a rad weekend might involve things I’ve always wanted to do as well as things I’m petrified of (24 hour bike ride?).

What's the best adventure, on or off the bike, that you've ever had?

Hip-deep in a rainforest stream in New South Wales at night, the air filled with the sounds of people of all ages making frog mating calls. There were leeches, headlamps, camping, the stars of the southern hemisphere, the largest spiders I’ve ever seen, poisonous snakes, a scientific purpose (tagging frogs that were dying due to a fungus), and post-adventure snacks in the form of Australian candy bars. I guess the only thing missing was a bike.

What’s your favorite piece of advice? 

A doctor told me about a famous surgeon who shooed a visiting observer out of his operating room because he didn’t want the person to steal his idea for a new device. Three months later, the surgeon died. Maybe if he’d let the person see it, the device would be used today and even be named after him! So, be nice to people and don’t be so afraid of what other people might do. Your ideas will keep coming and dead is worse than someone stealing your device.

What’s your spirit animal?

Can I answer this question with a photo?

What do you crave on long rides?

Lunch! The reason I started riding bikes in the first place was because I needed to find a form of exercise that I didn’t hate. Even now that I am hooked on riding, I like to plan my rides around tasty refueling stops. Adventure always includes lunch.

"You don’t have to exude toughness to be fierce."

What would the back cover of your autobiography say?

"From the moment I picked up your book until I laid it down, I was convulsed with laughter. Some day I intend reading it."
-Groucho Marx

What does "adventure" mean to you?

Forging a path down unfamiliar outland trails; setting up camp miles from anywhere! Bike touring is my favorite kind of adventure, so far taking me around Japan, through the Swiss Alps, down the California coast, and looping the desert. As a constant daydreamer, one of my favorite hobbies is mapping out future bike touring routes.

What about the team are you most excited about?

As one of the founders of RAWRbikes.com, promoting women’s cycling is very important to me. Adventures aren’t just for boys - I hope our travels will encourage women to take to the mountains, trails, and backroads for some amazing adventures, too!

What’s the best adventure (on or off the bike) you’ve ever had?

Going on a tour of the deep south with my band.

What’s your spirit animal?

ANGRY KITTEN! I like to channel adorable, violent little kittens when I forget you don’t have to exude toughness to be fierce.

Who’s your role model?

Kim Gordon.

What do you crave on long rides?

I crave figs almost all the time.

Describe one dream adventure, challenge, or goal.

I’m always dreaming of mountain ranges! I’d love to spend more time in the Alps. Someday I’ll go bike camping through Glacier National Park!

"Just look at 10 ft. in front of you, don’t worry about the whole mountain."

What would the back cover of your autobiography say?

"I collect places to call home like an animal shelter takes in strays. The finding, the details, the getting there is the adventure for me. I am a photographer by practice, I work with contemporary art by profession, I am a cyclist by passion, and a lover of cookies by weakness."

What does "adventure" mean to you?

"Adventure can be deliberate… yet adventure is more likely to be accidental."
– Paul Theroux in his collection of travel stories, Fresh Air Fiend

I love that quote, because adventure to me is the not knowing.

What about the team are you most excited about?

I’m excited to ride with some of the strongest, funniest most positive people I know. I’m lucky to have some amazing ladies on this team, and I am incredibly grateful for the extraordinary level of encouragement and support from Firefly and our sponsors.

What’s your favorite piece of advice?

"Just look at 10 ft. in front of you, don’t worry about the whole mountain." This advice was originally given to me by my Dad many years ago when I was skiing out West with him. But it’s stuck with me.

Who’s your role model?

Oh gosh. Do I have to pick just one? My mom – she’s the strongest, most inspiring woman I’ve ever met. My dad – he has always been so supportive and pushes me in the best way possible. And my coach, Mark, who is so encouraging… and SO fast.

Special race/ride day rituals?

Have a decent breakfast! I’m garbage mentally and physically if I don’t eat before a ride or race. My boyfriend/mechanic/biggest supporter Dan will make granola or oatmeal with goji berries, walnuts, a banana and a bit of dark chocolate; or white rice with spinach, sweet potato, soy sauce and soft-boiled eggs.

Describe one dream adventure, challenge, or goal.

Climbing Haleakala in Maui – the longest, steepest paved climb on the planet. 10,023 feet in 36 miles. I’ve been across Haleakala, down it, up some of it. But never the whole climb up, in one go. It is so gorgeous riding from the beach, past lavender, pineapple and sugar cane fields in rural Maui, through the clouds, and above them to what appears to be extraterrestrial terrain. Also, I am Hawaiian (my mom’s family is originally from Maui) so it holds a deep place in my heart.

"...I think Ernest Hemingway is my spirit animal."

What would the back cover of your autobiography say?

"The life of a cat presently incarnated as a girl."

What does “adventure” mean to you?

Adventures come big and small. It's all about broadening your perspective, learning, challenging yourself and experiencing something new. I like my adventures outdoors among big trees and mountains. Feeling small and humbled by nature is the closest thing to religion I know and the challenge required to put yourself in some of those places only adds to the reward. Embracing unpredictability, finding contentment in motion, and sharing something memorable with friends is pretty much the dream.

What about the team are you most excited about?

I’ve been inspired by my teammates open minded, can-do attitude. We’re all coming to this with different expertise and abilities and it’s exciting to be able to both challenge and support one another.

What/who is your spirit animal?

I’m not sure if he’d be insulted or flattered, but I think Ernest Hemingway is my spirit animal.

Describe your first bike.

My first bike was a 24” hardtail Diamondback that probably weighed half what I did. It was a nice little bike but it beat me up a lot. In hindsight it was probably a good experience- taught me resilience and a respect for gravity. The former has stuck with me, the latter I forget from time to time. 

Describe one dream adventure, challenge, or goal.

Life’s all about balance right? So as much as I love winding roads and all day rides, I also really love balls to the wall racing. This ‘cross season I’m going for my Cat 2 upgrade …if you’re in New England, don’t hold back on the heckles.